The Family Plot

Music City Salvage, a family construction business in Tennessee, takes on a lucrative contract to strip an old estate of its architectural elements. Chuck Dutton sends his daughter Dahlia and a small crew to complete what should be a straightforward salvage job at the Withrow mansion. The team discovers the property holds more value than expected, with rare woods and period details that could save their struggling business. But as they work to dismantle the house, unexplained events begin to occur, suggesting they are not alone on the grounds. The deeper they dig into the mansion's physical structure, the more they uncover about its troubled history and former occupants. Dahlia must confront both supernatural forces and family obligations as the line between preservation and destruction grows increasingly unclear. The Family Plot examines the intersection of family legacy, historic preservation, and the weight of the past on the present. Through its Southern Gothic lens, the novel considers how buildings and bloodlines can harbor long-buried secrets.

Readers describe this as a slow-burn haunted house story that builds tension gradually. Many note it feels more atmospheric than scary. Readers appreciated: - Authentic details about architectural salvage work - Strong sense of place and Southern gothic atmosphere - Multiple layers of family history and mystery - Professional, competent characters making logical decisions Common criticisms: - Pacing feels too slow in the first half - Romance subplot seems unnecessary - Ending resolves too quickly after the build-up - Some find the scares too mild for horror Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 3.7/5 (6,800+ ratings) Amazon: 4/5 (300+ ratings) LibraryThing: 3.8/5 (200+ ratings) Specific reader comments mention "loving the construction/salvage details" but "wishing for more intense scares." Multiple reviews note it works better as Southern gothic fiction than pure horror, with one calling it "more eerie than frightening."

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📚 Author Cherie Priest worked as a cemetery tour guide before writing this Southern Gothic haunted house tale 🏚️ The novel's premise of architectural salvage is based on a real trend where companies strip abandoned historic homes of valuable fixtures and materials 👻 The book takes place in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a city known for its numerous allegedly haunted locations, including the Read House Hotel and Chickamauga Battlefield 🔨 Many of the architectural elements described in the book, such as heart pine flooring and Victorian hardware, are highly sought-after in real-life salvage markets 🌳 The kudzu vines prominently featured in the novel were introduced to the American South in the 1930s for erosion control but became an invasive species, earning the nickname "the vine that ate the South"